Is Tomb Raider Game of the Year so far?

Nope, the gaming critics are too predictable, they will choose The Last Of Us.

Tomb Raider as GOTY? Hahaha. Wait, you're serious? Then let me laugh even harder. Haahaahaahaahaaaa!

Just because it's not bad doesn't mean it gets to be a contender for GOTY. Right now the two games that most people believe to be the real contenders are Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us. There is still plenty of time for more games to join the fight, but as it stands now those are the top two and everything else is in a distant third. Personally, I have a lot of love for Metal Gear Rising because that game was pure adrenaline and joy, but I'm fairly positive I'm in the minority here.

Man, I just realized Last of Us, Tomb Raider, and Bioshock are the top 3 contenders for game of the year. None of which are really my type of game. I mean, all three feel kind of shoehorned into the video game medium.

EDIT: wooo! just saw some callsouts for metal gear rising and rogue legacy. Yeah. Both excellent games. I'm also enjoying magrunner. Not GOTY material but pretty fun.

Not even close. It's not even on my top 10 list for 2013 any more.

And I really enjoyed that game. Like, a lot.

EDIT: Ok, actually it's still there sitting at #10, but between Dragon's Crown, Saints Row IV, Beyond: Two Souls, and Watchdogs, I'm pretty sure it's not going to make it to the end of the year.

I liked it okay, but the plot and dialog and backstory was all so fucking boring. Someone formulated a decent outline for that story and then handed it off to the most prosaic, uncreative group of people in the universe.

Uh....what? It's not even close to the top. The Last of Us is the clear cut GOTY at this moment.

Are you joking?

I never like GotY because it setups silly comparisons like this.

I'm leaning more towards Bioshock Infinite, but I haven't played everything that has come out so far this year, so my opinion is pretty useless.

Have you played it or just watched videos or read things about it?

Having played Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider and The Last of Us, I honestly have to say that the best time I had with a game this year was with Tomb Raider.

Maybe it's due in part to the fact that I had zero expectations of it nad picked it up on a whim but I thought it looked and played fantastically. The story, for what it was, was fine and servicable and I thought all of the cutscenes were well produced and voiced.

This is not a slight on Bioshock or TLOU, both of which were fantastic. TLOU didn't hit me as hard as it has other people, and would be probably 3rd on my personal GOTY list. Amazingly it may slip further when GTAV, Total War: Rome 2 and Civ V: Brave New World come out (though I don't actually want to pre-empt anything). I believe Watch Dogs is also this year? And I haven't played Metro yet.

Tomb Raider won't be winning any GOTY awards, and I get that, but at the moment it's my #1

I had forgotten that Tomb Raider exists. I can't think of another game that I played this year that I care less about than Tomb Raider, with the exception of Deadpool.

No. Right now it's between Bioshock Infinite, Last of Us (Haven't played it yet. Going on word of mouth only) and, for me, Fire Emblem: Awakening. If Awakening is ignored during GOTY talks I'll be really bummed. It's an excellent game. One of the very best the 3DS has to offer.

I haven't played it. Looks really good. I would have gotten it during the XBL sale last week, but i got the witcher 2 and crysis plus the deal for tomb raider wasn't that great, it was only like 25% off, so fuck that.

I have a feeling its going to be a close call between bioshock infinite and the last of us.

Perhaps and hopefully, GTA5 is pretty damn amazing as well.

Plus you can't really ignore launch titles for next gen. Watch_dogs and such comes out this fall, so it qualifies for GOTY. Granted historically launch titles are rarely amazing, but you never know.

Calling it this early is just foolish. I think Tomb Raider might be considered by alot of people, but quickly cut from the list as they gotta make it smaller.

Either way, the GOTY talks this year are gonna be great i think. Maybe they can even get an intern to play as Patricks surrogate wearing a webcam hat and earpiece so he can be part of the podcasts too.

Hell no. Tomb Raider was a better uncharted gameplay wise (except for the climbing), but lacked any character. The story was completely forgettable, and every single character was throwaway. The whole survival aspect of the game was pure vanity, as I never felt endangered at any moment while playing (huge dissonance between story and gameplay).

The Last of Us is, unarguably, the best game of 2013 (so far)

It's predictable because it as the best game (so far); this is an unarguable fact. I hope you're not trying to say the run of the mill, uncharted esque tomb raider with throw away EVERYTHING would be a controversial choice over one of the grimmest games ever produced?

grimmest games ever? come the fuck on, the Witcher series is far more grim, and thats just one example.

it's called GAME of the year for a reason. The Last of Us is obviously in the running, but its gameplay isn't anything to write home about.

Again. It's not even fall yet, so talking game of the year stuff is a bit silly. Story is important, I love good stories, but acting like its the most important thing is a big shortsighted. The Last of Us just came out, everyones in love with it. Thats to be expected.

Last year X-Com: Enemy Unknown won. It's story was pretty much "oh shit aliens invaded".

No, though I guess it's close to GotY, because this year has especially few good games in the first six months. Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us are Tomb Raider's only competition right now, given how bad/mediocre most of the gaming press thought stuff like Dead Space 3, Crysis 3, Gears of War: Judgment, God of War: Ascension, and Aliens: Colonial Marines were. Not all those games are bad, but none of them are anywhere close to GotY.

But Tomb Raider is easily going to get lost in the shuffle, once GTA 5, Saints Row 4, Beyond: Two Souls, Assassin's Creed 4, and Watch_Dogs come out.

While I really liked Tomb Raider, it's Bioshock Infinite for me right now, while I'm enjoying the Last of Us, I'll hold off judgement until it's done.

But in the grand scheme of Game of the Year, it's early days yet. There's a new console gen that will bring new things like Watch Dogs and Dead Rising 3. Also when you consider games like Shin Megami Tensei 4 and Wonderful 101 are just around the corner, I'd say Tomb Raider has a high chance of being top 5 (or more realistically top 10) by the end of the year...

The only thing game of the year material about The Last Of Us was the story and even that had it's problems. The gameplay was good at best and more like average. I am in no way saying Tomb Raider is better. Also, I really don't feel like anyone who speaks in absolutes like you do has anything more to add to this conversation. So you and your unarguable facts can have a good day.

You forgot the following option: Bwahahahahahahahhaha

Now stop trolling the forums.

Maybe, I haven't played it. For me, my personal favourite game from this year is BioShock Infinite.

BTW, I selected all the options >_>

What? that game was fun but all the indended emotional or story notes were pretty poorly played and missed hard. Which is par for the course for video games, usually. Certainly a fun but not outstanding game with an predictable and poorly executed story is a poor "game of the year"

but really it doesn't matter. If it was your favorite game this year, that's cool. For me, it was a fun but entirely forgettable game.

You mean they actually like a great game for once?

I'm not entirely against the idea that 2013's Game of the Year should be Dragon's Dogma. Since that will never fly, I'm still looking for the best 2013 game. Infinite and The Last of Us were neat games that are interesting solely because of their novel narratives. Well, Infinite was novel, at least. The Last of Us is pretty "meh" for someone who has read and seen well done apocalyptic fiction before.

As far as Tomb Raider goes, it satisfies from a gameplay perspective, but it's all pretty rote and derivative. It's not particularly inspired in any way. I think the developers wanted to do a (wo)Man vs Nature story, but they just didn't know how to make that into a good game. Because of that, their reliance on human enemies deflates the house of cards they built. A house that was on pretty shaky ground to begin with.

TL;DR - fuck all the noise in this thread. Game of the Year is Dragon's Dogma.

I mean they will look over the flaws with TLOU but will point out those flaws in other games.

You can critique the gameplay all you want, personally I liked that part, but the one thing you can't critique is the story and the way it's told. TLOU is a well told story. Period. Not any of that for a video game talk bullshit. It doesn't have the biggest twists, except for a few moments, but the characters are well written and acted. In fact it's way better told than 99,9% of all video games.

No. Tomb Raider was a decent reboot that I had quite a bit of fun with, but it's not even close to the same level as BioShock Infinite or The Last of Us (which are my GOTY contenders as of now). Gameplay was strong but the story was mediocre at best. I didn't give a shit about the characters because I was never given a reason to. They just bitched and whined while I scoured the island looking for a way off. The reboot was a success in terms of what a new Tomb Raider game could have been, but the story and overall pace of the game really held it back.

Ha and you critique others for speaking in absolutes. What is your game of the year so far?

I want to hear about the perfect game you apparently have played this year that all others haven't.

In my opinion all games are flawed. But some comes close to perfection and TLOU is one of them.

haha no! It was fun but definitely not GoTY. Playing Remember Me now, I think that shouldn't be forgotten in the running.

I think the staff over-think things, I don't care if the gameplay is contradictory to story just so long as it's fun. Personally, 'cause i'm a sick-puppy, I like XP in my games but I don't think Tomb Raider is my game of the year. Seems to me that the forums love them some Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us so I think you'll be in the minority, still, it was a really good game.

Nope!! For me the game of the year so far would be Bioshock Infinite or Metro Last Light. I cant decide on just one, both had very beautiful and immersive settings. They also had very good storylines and both games also had a very good cast of characters.

Haven't played it yet, probably never will - so it isn't even in the running. For me, from the games I've played this year, it's either got to be Dragon's Dogma : Dark Arisen or The Last of Us. Prefering more open games, I'd give the nod to Dragon's Dogma : Dark Arisen right now. Despite all its quirks, and it has many, it's one of the most successfully ambitious games I've ever played - and damn does it all play well, for the breadth and depth of what it has to offer.

By the end of the year, there will have been a new GTA, a new Battlefield, a new Need for Speed - all of which are my jam. I'd be surprised if it's not GTAV that gets my personal singleplayer GotY nod. I'd be surprised if it's not Battlefield 4 that'll get my multiplayer GotY nod. I'd be surprised, if after all is said and done, Need for Speed Rivals hasn't been the game that has caused me the most pure joy and elation of all games I've played all year. For such is my experience with these franchises and these matters.

Tomb Raider is definitely in my Top 5 of 2013 so far, but I don't think I can see it being at number one.

Rogue Legacy is my favorite game to come out this year. But FTL is the best game I've played in a long time, since Dark Souls came out at least.

Nope. I did really enjoy it at the time, but I've almost forgotten it by now.

Oh right. Tomb Raider came out this year. Maybe I'll buy it when I can get it for like $10 on Steam or Green Man Gaming.

I loved Tomb Raider, but it had a few too many "Uncharted" moments where immersion was completely killed as I died over and over for not getting some lame quick time event correct.

The gameplay perfectly serviced the story ND was trying to tell (if you played it on hard). There was little to no dissonance between what was going on in the story and when you're actually playing the game. What, you wanted it to be another no skill cover shooter?

It happened to play a lot better than Uncharted ever - so on top of being really pretty to look at it most importantly played really great.

@clonedzero: I haven't played the witcher games, but I seriously doubt it's as grim as the last of us.

And Xcom won GB's award. The only awards that should matter is the academy of interactive arts and sciences' IAA's (they really need a new name for their awards ceremony), and they gave GOTY to Journey (which deserved it). The reason I say it matters is because those awards are most likely going to become the "oscars" for gaming.

Last of Us isn't in the conversation of best game this year but rather best game this generation of consoles.

Haha Tomb Raider was good, but not great and certainly not Game of the Year.

It could probably win the Best Use of Debris to Repetitively Horribly Murder the Protagonist in a Borderline Pornographic Snuff Kind of Way award.

It does not deserve GOTY just like Tomb Raider both are good games but no GOTY material.

It's good. Really good, even. But nowhere near as good as Bioshock Infinite or The Last of Us

I voted for all 3 options because I can.

but it didn't have woeful gameplay.

as someone who is a massive shooter fan i would argue BS:I is as good as any shooter i have played, the vigors game loads of variety and the gunplay felt tight. not sure what you found so 'woeful'

What? God, no. Tomb Raider is good, but Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us are the only GOTY candidates so far. Maybe if it had come out last year, when there was no big-budget competition it might have had a chance. As it stands, Tomb Raider competes in the "Complete reboot that didn't suck" category so far. I'm going to play DMC and see where that falls.

Maybe not GotY but definitely top 5, I will even go so far as to say I enjoyed it more than Bioshock Infinite.